FISHBONES, POPES, CORKS, COBBLESTONES AND AIRCRAFT CARRIERS Adventures with AP cameraman Gianfranco Stara This week my colleague Gianfranco Stara is retiring after 30 years working for the Associated Press. Gianfranco Stara and I were hired together in October of 1994 to open the AP Television office in Rome. He was the cameraman, and in case …
ADVENTURES WITH ASSOCIATED PRESS CAMERAMAN GIANFRANCO STARA Read More »
This past weekend I flew to the Greek island of Lesbos to work with AP colleagues covering the visit of the Pope to the island. Pope Francis has made migration a priority of his papacy. During a visit to Lesbos in 2016 he stunned the world by taking 12 migrants from the camp back with …
Take 20 leaders of the nations with the world’s biggest economies, bring them to a beautiful, chaotic city with cobblestone streets and ancient ruins, add in delegations with a sprinkling of foreign and finance ministers, spouses, and a few children. Toss in a Queen and a Prince and some heads of UN organizations, throw in …
This past week, I went on a wild boar hunt. Not the kind that one might imagine in Italy, tromping through the Tuscan forest carrying a rifle. No, this hunt was in the city of Rome, armed with cameras. We were working on a story on the invasion of wild boars in the city. …
Dear Blog Readers, After a hiatus of over a year, I am back, more or less. The last post I wrote was on March 3rd, 2020, shortly before Italy went into a national lockdown on March 9th. It is strange to look back at those photos in the last post, Rome in the Time of …
A week ago today, I found myself standing on a street corner in a Cartagena slum with a handful of photographers, camerapersons and reporters—what is known as a tight pool. As always when we cover the Pope, we were dressed in black. Sweat was soaking through our clothing and I could feel the drops running …
Passing the Babies and Forgiving the Unforgivable in Colombia Read More »
Dear Blog Readers, I am sitting in the airport waiting area in Catania, Sicily trying to take advantage of the sugar high from yet-another cannolo to get started on a post about the past six days in Sicily working on AP coverage of the G7 summit in Taormina. Thanks to a well-timed Alitalia strike at …
Dear Blog Readers – I am trying to whip off this post while flying from Lisbon back to Rome after five days in the town of Fatima, Portugal. I am so zonked I won’t get it done if I don’t finish it in this 3 hour window of opportunity. Associated Press Television sent me at …
Wax Limbs and Rose Petals – Following the Pope in Fatima Read More »